UConn Stamford looks at building dorms

Rob Varnon

Updated 10:32 pm, Tuesday, September 24, 2013

STAMFORD -- The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees will vote Wednesday on whether to spend $500,000 to study whether its downtown Stamford parking garage can be turned into housing.

The trustees are to meet in Storrs beginning at 9 a.m. and are expected to vote on the expenditure that would cover design, construction and engineering services for a project that would housing for up to 400 students attending the UConn Stamford campus.

"There is $10 million dedicated for housing for Stamford," said Stephanie Reitz, a UConn spokeswoman, explaining that if the board approves this step, the parking garage site would only be studied for now.

A timeline for the project would likely be developed after this step in the process, she said.

In February, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced plans to create housing in Stamford for UConn students and to expand the courses offered in the city. The Stamford expansion will be paid for out of the $1.5 billion Next Generation fund, approved by the Legislature in June.

UConn is increasing its business and digital media design courses in Stamford and hopes to attract more students to the city. While business courses tend to attract older students who are commuters, Reitz said, the digital media studies is for undergraduates. The increasing focus on media in Stamford follows Sacred Heart University's creation of a new film and television graduate program offered downtown at 1 Landmark Square.

Reitz said no decisions have been made yet about where to build the housing. She said the university would not eliminate parking for its campus.

The garage, which formerly served the Bloomingdale's department store that occupied the space that UConn does now, sits on four acres of property owned by the university.

Planning and economic development officials from the city could not immediately be reached for comment.